Buenaventura NACS 5

Earlier this year, Curivari shipped the third exclusive release in its Buenaventura blend, which was released at an event on May 21. Named the Buenaventura NACS 5, the new cigar was produced to commemorate Nice Ash Cigars South’s fifth year in business.

Like the rest of the Buenaventura line, the the 6 1/2 x 44 NACS 5 features an all-Nicaraguan blend of tobacco, although the lonsdale is tweaked slightly. There were only 100 boxes of 10 produced, with each cigar retailing for $5.50.

With the addition of the NACS 5, there are now nine total vitolas in the Buenaventura, including three singe store exclusive releases:

Number of Cigars Released: 100 Boxes of 10 Cigars (1,000 Total Cigars)

Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

Visually, the Buenaventura NACS 5 is covered in a cinnamon brown wrapper that has quite bit of tooth to it, but almost no oil at all. There are very few veins present, and it also features a slight box-press. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of creamy cedar, cinnamon, hay, manure, dark cocoa and nutmeg sweetness, while the cold draw brings flavors of slight peppermint, coffee beans, cedar, and barnyard.

Starting out, the Buenaventura NACS 5 features a dominant creamy cedar profile carried over from the cold draw, interspersed with flavors of leather, milk chocolate, dark fruit sweetness and hay. There is some noticeable cinnamon no the retrohale, as well as some slight black pepper, and I am picking up some spice on my tongue as well. Construction-wise, the cigar features and excellent draw after a simple straight cut, plenty of dense, white smoke and a burn that is very close to razor sharp. The overall strength of the cigar is light so far, and hits a point about halfway between mild and medium by the time the first third comes to an end.

The dark fruit sweetness increases noticeably in the second third of the Buenaventura NACS 5, combining nicely with a new flavor of peanut butter on the palate. Other flavors of creamy oak, cinnamon, milk chocolate, hay, coffee beans and leather flit in and out, while there is an interesting floral note on the finish. There are increased levels of both spice on my tongue as well as black pepper on the retrohale, and both the burn and draw continue to impress. The strength has increased to a point very close to medium, but seems to stall out there by the end of the second third.

The final third of the Buenaventura NACS 5 seems to combine the best flavors of the first two thirds, with a combination of roasted peanut butter and creamy oak the dominant flavors, followed by notes of hay, milk chocolate, gritty earth, leather and cinnamon. The dark fruit sweetness is still very much a part of the profile, as is the black pepper that is still present on the retrohale. The draw remains excellent until the end, and the burn is very close to razor sharp while the smoke production remains high. While the strength does eventually reach a solid medium, it never comes close to going any further, and the nub is still nice and cold by the time it down with about an inch to go.

Final Notes

The NACS 5 is both the longest vitola in the Buenaventura line as well as the smallest release in terms of production of any of the three exclusive cigars so far.

Buenaventura translates to good fortune from Spanish, while the NACS in the name stands for Nice Ash Cigars South.

Although the NACS 5 has a very slight box-press to it, I can’t tell if it was intentional or just a result of being packaged in a tight box.

As with the rest of the exclusive releases in the Buenaventura line, there is no special band or any indication on the cigar at all that this is a special release, although the boxes they come in have the Nice Ash Cigars name on them.

Both the burn and the draw were top notch on both samples I smoked, with neither giving any issues at all in that regard.

The cigars smoked for this review were sent to halfwheel by Nice Ash Cigars.

The total smoking time for both samples averaged a very quick one hour and 15 minutes.

If you would like to purchase any of the Curivari Buenaventura NACS 5, Nice Ash Cigars is the only place you can get them, and the store still has some for sale here.

92Overall Score

Although I have not smoked every vitola in the Buenaventura line, I have enjoyed the sizes I have tried, and the NACS 5 is easily one of the best out of those. The profile is extremely complex, with notes of peanut butter, floral, cinnamon and dark fruit sweetness that dominate most of the other flavors, and an ever-present but never overwhelming black pepper on the retrohale. In addition, construction is top notch throughout, and the price under $6 makes this cigar a winner in every way.

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.